Fruit-ladder



Nrrnn ArnNr rrron.

ALONZO W. OLDS, OF GREEN OAK, MICHIGAN.

FRUIT-LADDER.

To all whom #may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO W. OLDS, of Green Oak, in the county ofLivingston and State of Michigan, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Ladders; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull and complete description of the construction and operation of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ofthis specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view. Fig. 2 isa detached part, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, showing two differentpositions of the ladder.

Like letters refer to like parts in the several views.

I construct my ladder with three bars, A B O, of any desired length.These are supplied with rounds, D D D, placed at suitable distancesapart for easy ascent, each round passing through each of the bars. Nearthe 10p of the bars A O, I afx a rotating hinge, shown detached at E,Fig. 2, an enlarged view of the hinge being shown at E. Oompound bracesF G are secured to this hinge by a pin, F', formin g thus a kind ofuniversal joint, for the brace, by the action of the hinge, can beturned in any direction. The bar F is secured to the bar G by a pin, G',upon which it can be turned, and the bar G is held in contact with thebar F by another pin, g, which can be removed, when the bar G can belaid horizontal, and this will bring the end ofthe brace F into contactwith the ground and thus shorten the brace, or the bar G can be turnedentirely around, so as to bring the end that is now shown as beingupward to the ground, where it can be secured by the pin g, thuslengthening the brace, and in this way the diii'erent altitudes of thebars or ladder A B O can be accommodated.

An adjustable staging or platform is shown at H. This is supported bytwo rods, I J,

and end-pieces, K L. The rod J is in front of the ladder and the rod Ibehind it. Ihe rod J passes through the end-pieces, K, to both of whichit is firmly secured. The pieces K are on the outside of the bars A O.The back end of these end pieces are provided with a slot, I', throughwhich the rod I passes. A pin, i, is placed behind the rod I atdifferent points to regulate the distance between the rods I and J. Ifthe ladder stands nearly vertical, as in Fig. 3, the rod I should besecured in the forward part of the slot, which will make the distancebetween the two rods just sufficient to bring the platform H into ahorizontal position, as shown in the figure, for the rod J will restupon the front side of the ladder. If the ladder is more inclined, as inthe dotted lines in Fig. 8, the pin lmust be moved back in the slot, soas to increase the space between the bars I and J, when the platformwill still remain in a horizontal position, and in this manner, bymoving the pin '5, the platform can be kept in a horizontal position,whatever may be the angle of the ladder. With this arrangement of partsthe platform can be moved up and down, and secured at any desiredelevation, with no other support except the bars A B C, and the greaterthe pressure upon the platform the firmer is its adherence to the bars;but, for the purpose of rendering the platform still more secure, Iintroduce a pin, N, below the rod J, into holes in the bar B, at therequired height.

By removing the pin N and lifting upon the front side of the platform,it becomes released, and can be raised or lowered at pleasure. For theconvenience of this movement, I attach a cord or rope, M, to the. middleof the bar J, the cord passing over the top round of' the ladder. Bygently pulling upon this cord the platform can be raised or lowered atpleasure. l

What I claim as my improvment, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The compound braces F G, in connec tion with the universal joint E,arranged and operating as and for the purpose specified.

2. Ihe platform H, rods I J, and endpieces K L, arranged and operatingas set forth.

A. WV. OLDS.

Witnesses:

W. H. BURRIDGE, J. HOLMES.

